ICYMI: former Channel [V] presenter James Mathison has thrown his hat in the ring to run against turfed PM Tony Abbott for the seat of Warringah in the upcoming federal election, and his sudden crack at national politics has been, for many Australians, the most interesting thing to happen so far in the election campaign.
But Matho wants us to know that his bid to topple Tone is about more than just spicing up the political race.
“We know the system is broken, we know that young people are completely ignored and locked out and think that their vote doesn’t count, that they have no voice that can be heard. And that’s exactly what the major parties want,” the fresh-faced independent candidate told MTV Australia.
“The trouble is, this two-party system means all you gotta do is be less shit than the other guy.”
And the wannabe MP explained that, after realising nobody was gonna do anything about it, he figured he should probably do something about it.
“I think I realised that Tony Abbott’s views don’t only not reflect the views of people in Warringah, but they don’t reflect anyone I know under 30, even under 40. He’s against marriage equality, he thinks climate change is a hoax and he’s lied over and over and over again” (which some may feel is only slightly worse than helping to continuously inflict Australian Idol upon society, but hey).
James Mathison is dragged away from tree #protest after trying to #savesydneystrees on #Anzac parade @photosSMH @smh pic.twitter.com/fnYLn9MduD
— Janie Barrett (@janie_barrett) May 2, 2016
Matho is a vocal environmentalist and social justice activist, and though his career as an Aussie TV celeb hasn’t exactly given him much political experience, he reckons that might just be a good thing.
“You know, if ‘political experience’ means that you deceive the public and means that you break promises and means that you never say what you mean, then maybe we need someone who doesn’t have ‘political experience’,” he said.
And while a dude who admittedly gets regularly mistaken for an ex-host of Cheez TV doesn’t seem to stack up on paper to a former Prime Minister who’s held the northern Sydney seat of Warringah for the past two decades, Matho hopes he can at least make a dent.
Invoking “the great 20th Century philosopher, Zach De La Rocha” of Rage Against The Machine, he sums up his campaign bid with an (only slight mis)quote of the immortal lyrics to Guerilla Radio:
“It has to start somewhere. It has to start sometime. What better place than here? What better time than now?”
All hell can’t stop him now.
Is James Mathison the political candidate Australia needs right now?
Watch his interview with MTV Australia below.
